Best first aid kits 2024
Which first aid kit is best if the worst should happen?
No one wants to suffer any sort of injury while travelling, but when you do, it pays to have a first aid kit to hand. In some European countries it is not just wise, but a legal requirement to have one in the car at all times.
Sourcing a first aid kit for your car should not just be about staying legal, though, because you also want it to do the job when it’s pressed into service.
So which is the one to slip into that boot cubbyhole for the day you hope will never come? We opened eight first aid kits to find out which will be your best bet should the worst happen.
How we tested them
First aid kits are commonly used on relatively minor ailments, such as burns, bruises, cuts and scrapes, so we focused our marking in the test to reflect this.
There is no official standard for what each kit should contain, but ideally the case should be in the internationally accepted green with a white cross.
While a hard plastic case isn’t as easy to store, it will protect the contents better than a soft bag and will often also provide a handy working surface.
We looked for a well balanced selection of dressings and bandages, with tape or pins to keep them secure, plus good scissors or shears for cutting dressings or clothing. We balanced all these factors against the best prices we could find on the internet for each kit.
Reviews
Sealey Medium First Aid Kit SFA01M
- Price: Around £18
- Website: sealey.co.uk
- Rating: 5 stars
This is an excellent kit from Sealey, and it comes in a hard plastic case that’s finished in green with a white cross. It also has a secure clip fitting. The kit contains a wide range of equipment, including nine pairs of gloves, three triangular bandages and 60 plasters. All these amounts are the joint best among the kits on test.
The shears are sharp and tough, and two burns dressings should be enough for most incidents. The 10 other dressings include large and medium sizes, plus a couple of the stretchy, conforming type. But the included instructions are disappointing, so you’d be advised to read up before using.
AA Ultimate First Aid Kit
- Price: Around £13.10
- Website: amazon.co.uk
- Rating: 4.5 stars
The AA kit comes in a zip-up, textile bag and is finished in black, rather than green. In terms of contents, it is generally well down on our winner. In particular, there are just two pairs of gloves and two sterile wipes, although it topped the charts for dressings, with 12.
However, its trump card is the interior holder that is divided into 12 pockets, each containing specific products with their designation and notes for use on the outside. This is ideal when in pressured first aid situations. The price also balances its content shortcomings to move it up the rankings.
Draper Medium First Aid Kit 81289
- Price: Around £34
- Website: drapertools.com
- Rating: 4.5 stars
Draper’s first aid kit is very similar to our winner from Sealey in many respects. The biggest difference between the two is that the Draper’s price is almost twice that of our champion.
We like the strong, hard plastic green case and the fact that the 60 plasters, 30 cleaning wipes and nine pairs of tough nitrile gloves are supplied in neat boxes. This makes them easier to access and simpler to store.
Although two rolls of microporous tape are supplied to secure bandages, the Draper is also one of only two kits to come with six safety pins. The shears are sharp, but as with most of the kits on test, the instructions could be better.
Sakura Premium First Aid Kit SS5418
- Price: Around £10.20
- Website: saxon-brands.co.uk
- Rating: 4 stars
The Sakura is similar to the AA kit, and also comes in a black, zip-up textile pouch with a white cross. Its price has risen by almost a pound since our last test, but its contents are similar, although they aren’t stored in pull-out pouches.
We like the tough shears and wide range of dressings, which include conforming and triangular versions, along with a roll of microporous tape. The two burns dressings are good, although only suppling two pairs of gloves and two sterile wipes seemed stingy to us. These would soon be used up and would require replacement.
Sealey Small First Aid Kit SFA01S
- Price: Around £20
- Contact: sealey.co.uk
- Rating: 3.5 stars
The strong plastic case has a red back section, but is redeemed by the large green and white cross on the front. The contents are, in essence, a cut-down version of the Medium kit, albeit still well equipped with 40 plasters, 20 cleansing wipes, six pairs of nitrile gloves and two triangular bandages, which should cover most eventualities.
Six dressings, including a single conforming one, would be okay, although we would liked more than one burns option to be supplied. A slightly cheaper price would be good and, as with the other Sealey kit, we’d prefer it if the instructions were more detailed.
Halfords 66-piece Motorists’ First Aid Kit
- Price: Around £20
- Website: halfords.com
- Rating: 3.5 stars
We like the tough, textile case, which features a white cross and a carry handle. It unzips to reveal the contents held in place in netted sections and secured by extra fasteners. This folds out for easy access, and packing the contents is easier than with some rivals here.
The large, 180mm shears get a thumbs up, but having just three standard dressings isn’t many. However, the major trauma dressing (for bleeding) is a bonus. Two each of foil blankets, triangular bandages and burns dressings is about par, but just 12 wipes and two pairs of gloves won’t last long.
Blue Dot Small Home & Workplace First Aid Kit
- Price: Around £26
- Website: eurocarparts.com
- Rating: 3 stars
This kit manages an average score, with a real mix of results. We like the six pairs of nitrile gloves, 20 cleansing wipes, Tuff Cut shears and 40 plasters. The hard plastic case is bright green with a white cross. It comes with a wall-mounting bracket, which makes it handy to keep in the garage and move to the car as required.
We’d have liked to see more than one foil blanket and, more importantly, a single burns dressing for the price. The instructions are very limited and overall the kit struggles to compete with its competitors in this test.
Halfords 35-piece Motorists’ First Aid Kit
- Price: Around £15
- Website: halfords.com
- Rating: 3 stars
We like the neat textile case, a cut-down version of Halfords’ 66-piece set, with its handle and rear loop for securing where convenient. Again, it unzips to reveal the contents held in place under netting. The instructions are slightly better than in some of the kits here, but are still nothing special.
The contents are quite limited, with just two pairs of gloves (the joint lowest), 11 plasters and only one foil blanket, although it does have two burns dressings. The tough shears easily cut through the standard bandages, but there are just three supplied and no microporous tape to secure them with.
Verdict
Unlike in previous tests, none of the kits we tested come with antiseptic cream or cotton wool, which are both hated by paramedics. The instruction leaflets are generally insufficient and brands should make more effort to produce something of use to the amateur in an emergency situation.
Sealey’s Medium first aid kit is very impressive in terms of both content and price. The AA scored highly on price and would be our budget choice, while the Draper 81289 matches the Sealey in technical terms but costs rather more.
- Sealey Medium First Aid Kit SFA01M
- AA Ultimate First Aid Kit
- Draper Medium First Aid Kit 8128
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